Mark Wright discovered his ancestors are from Spain, while filming ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’
The Essex native loves to visit Marbella on holiday and was thrilled to find out that his nine-time great-grandfather was a swordsman from the Andalusia region of the country.
He told The Sun’s Bizarre TV column: "I always thought I might have been a bit Italian, so I’d tell the girls that in the playground at school. To find out I’m Spanish is amazing. We’ve been going on holiday to that area for years and my brother lives out there. It’s ridiculous."
While Mark was thrilled to discover his family hail from Spain, he was devastated to find out more about some of their tragic history, including that his ancestors were persecuted for their Jewish faith.
He said: "That’s hard to take when it’s someone in your bloodline, tortured for years and burned at the stake. Knowing my family went through that – I can relate to it even more."
And Mark, 32 – who is married to ‘Brassic’ star Michelle Keegan – tried to follow in the footsteps of his great-grandfather by trying out fencing during a trip to the country while filming the BBC show.
He said: "The guy said I was pretty good and had a natural aptitude, so maybe I’ll take it up! "I’d definitely give it another go because I really enjoyed it."
Meanwhile, Mark recently revealed his life is "perfect" now he’s quit his job on ‘Extra’ in Los Angeles and moved back to the UK to be with Michelle.
He said: "It will be easy getting back in the swing of things! We won’t have to travel 11 hours every week.
"It’s perfect and it makes it more fun knowing we’re seeing each other and settled back home…
"We love home life, I said it last night while we were cooking dinner. We love cooking and watching films…
"Normal life for us is like date night. We go to the shop, we get our food and we cook it and we choose our film and we just love it.
"It’s like an event for us, just real life we love it. Doors shut, with the dogs, it just never gets old."
Mark Wright’s Spanish discovery on Who Do You Think You Are?
